


The Witches' Brew

by Pi (Rhea)



Category: Eastwick (TV)
Genre: Coffee, Gen, bookstore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-21
Updated: 2009-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-04 21:03:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhea/pseuds/Pi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"an AU where they own a bookstore/coffeeshop"<br/>Roxie runs a coffee shop, Kat rents the apartment above, JoAnna runs the used bookstore next door. Mia's coming home for Christmas, and JoAnna's writing a novel.<br/>Slice of life with coffee and cupcakes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Witches' Brew

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kisahawklin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kisahawklin/gifts).



> Thanks to moosesal for an excellent beta!

Roxie was a little uncertain when Kat moved in, given the guy she’d just evicted had been a freaky cultist. But Joanna had vouched for her so Roxie gave it a shot. In the end, Kat moving in had been a blessing: steady rent, no weird occult crap, and a cheery, calming presence. Kat had been a great help with Mia too. Mia had been a senior then and without Kat’s help she might never have gotten into college. Not because she wasn’t smart but because Roxie is fairly certain the college application process would have ended in homicide had Kat not intervened.

College applications took a whole village: Kat’s rationality and calm thinking, Joanna’s friend Penny’s contribution of essay tutoring, Joanna’s supply of college review books and her college stories. Roxie had never gone to college. When she was Mia’s age she hadn’t had that support system. She is immensely glad Mia has had all these beautiful role models to help her.

Kat has also been a help to Roxie in Mia’s absence. Roxie hadn’t known how she would cope without Mia, who’d been her sole focus besides the Witches’ Brew since her husband’s death. Kat, Joanna and their girls’ nights brought fun and adventure to Roxie’s life just when she’d figured she was beyond having any fun.

Kat’s kids have been wonderful too. Roxie hadn’t realized how much she missed children. Once a mother, always a mother. She loves being Auntie Roxie, tied to a family again. Now she has sisters and nieces where before had been emptiness. It had been just her and Mia; radio silence from her husband’s family after his death, and her reputation as a ‘black widow’ in the wider Eastwick community. Now, here she is at home, bound by bonds just as tight and real as blood or marriage. She is glad to be giving Mia a family again, and even more happy for herself.

Mia’s flying in from college in three hours and Roxie is putting the finishing touches on the carefully crafted construction paper and glitter sign reading “Welcome Home Mia”.  Maybe this year they’ll have a real Christmas party; Kat’s kids are coming for Christmas, but Roxie knows Kat will appreciate an offer of Christmas dinner, and Joanna was bemoaning her lack of Christmas plans. Roxie might even suggest Joanna invite Penny, if she’s free. Roxie has enough Christmas cheer to go around. Her baby’s coming home from her first year of college.

 

 

**3 days later**

The first thing Kat does in the morning is go downstairs for coffee. It’s one of the nice things about rooming above Witches’ Brew. Some days Kat doesn’t even bother changing out of her pajamas, but it’s a Tuesday morning, and already past nine. The shop’s open to the public, so Kat pulls on yesterday’s jeans and a lavender tank top and patters down the stairs. Roxie is behind the counter serving up drinks, her blond curls pulled back in a messy bun, and sporting a blue apron. Her hands move quickly and assuredly over the steamer, reaching for cream while blending someone’s hot chocolate to perfection.

Kat approaches the far side of the counter, away from the line of customers and waits to be noticed. Some of the regulars smile at her as they pass, familiar kids from the local college. They make Kat think of her own children, her oldest just entering high school. They’re with their father this weekend. Roxie catches sight of Kat and stops her flurry of motion. Staring hard she says, “One decaf Americano and a chai to go. Am I right?” Kat nods laughing as Roxie presents the drinks with a flourish. “See, I’m psychic.”

“Yeah, the usual. You heard me coming down the stairs.”

“Perhaps. And that tank top’s hard to miss,” Roxie points out. Kat shrugs, looking around at the sweaters and scarves slung over the café’s chairs. The students and morning business crowd typing on their laptops, snow melting off their shoes to form slick little puddles on the red resin floor.  She spots Mia chatting with one of her friends in a far corner and waves. Mia smiles back, before returning to her friend.

“I’m not going far. Besides it’s sunny out.” Kat points towards the storefront’s glass windows with their festive holiday trim. Outside icicles are beginning to drip and snow sparkles on the grass edging the sidewalk. Roxie shakes her head.

“It was snowing ten minutes ago. You have a mighty weather gift. I walk out the door and it blizzards.” Roxie hands over the drinks and Kat walks out to the street.

She blinks in the brightness of the snow-reflected light, the sleigh bell on the door jingling behind her. Her breath puffs out in an icy cloud and burns her lungs on the inhale as she hurries the few feet next door. She stamps her slippers on the entry mat and moves quietly into the shop. Joanna’s Twice Sold Tales always has a calming air to it, for all the fluster of its proprietor.

Kat met Joanna when she was first starting to go through her divorce with Raymond. Somewhere in there Joanna had mentioned that a friend of hers had an apartment for rent. And so by almost magical chance had come the best change of Kat’s life. She’d moved in above the Witches’ Brew a little over a month later, immediately getting along with Roxie. She’d transferred her job to the local hospital where she now, mainly, works the night shift in the children’s ward as a resident nurse.

Approaching the counter she finds Joanna’s nose buried in the latest book she is reading. Kat holds out the coffee, tapping the book lightly with the bottom of the cup. Joanna startles.

“I didn’t hear you come in.”

“The bell’s broken again. Here, Roxie foresaw you’d want this.”

Joanna smiles and accepts the cup with a groan of appreciation. “God do I ever.” She drinks a hearty gulp before quickly setting her cup down. “Well, now I’ve burned all my taste buds properly awake, how are you?”

Kat slides onto the edge of the counter, swinging her slippered feet, and takes a sip of chai. The temperature is perfect.  “I’m good. Talked to the kids yesterday, they’re excited to come see mommy for Christmas.”

“Raymond’s not being a dick then?” Joanna inquires.

“No he was quite civil on the phone. And you know he loves the kids. They have a great time when they’re with him.”  Joanna scoffs, but Kat’s used to it by. She appreciates the support, and continues smiling, “Really, actually he’s apparently got a girlfriend. Rosie told me he dressed up ‘all nice in a suit’ and took her to a fancy restaurant.”

Joanna looks at Kat seriously. “And you’re okay with that?”

Kat smiles, not for the first time, reveling in the fact that she finally is. “Yeah, he’s a good Dad. And he was never much of an asshole to everyone else. I think I scared him and that made him angry,” Kat muses. Joanna shakes her head.

“You are the least frightening person I know.”

“Some guys, huh? Well, I’ve got everything I could want right here,” Kat says with an expansive gesture, taking in the bookshop, the café, and all the sparkling snow.

“Yeah we do have it all don’t we?” Joanna says, her eyes smiling warmly from behind her glasses, a fond counterpoint to the snow.

 

**3 days later**

Joanna’s been up working on The Book all night. It’s not an unusual occurrence; when there’s no one there to tell her to go to bed, sometimes she doesn’t. Kat’s taken to calling her at 11:30 to remind Joanna to sleep, but Kat’s kids are here for the weekend. When Kat moved she didn’t want to take them out of school, so they’re with their dad most of the year. Kat gets them every other weekend, and most holidays.  Joanna can imagine it won’t be peaceful and quiet over at the Witches’ Brew until after the holidays. But Kat’s so excited to see her kids that no one minds a little extra noise. The Witches’ Brew is loud enough as it is with Christmas shoppers.

Most of the college kids have gone home, but the Christmas spirit brings out the locals to fill the Saturday night open mic and Friday alcohol free-for-all, as Roxie calls the one evening a week where she trades in her barista apron and recalls her bartending days. Joanna stopped by the Witch earlier this morning on her way to her meeting with Penny. Roxie had, as usual, been ready with a coffee for her and a smile. She’d also given her a decaf latte for Penny. Roxie had a way of anticipating drinks.

Joanna’s career as a journalist just wasn’t panning out and fate intervened with the death of her great aunt Mathilda. Joanna inherited Twice Sold Tales and retired from journalism to run the bookstore while working on her novel. The Book still wasn’t done yet, but she’d bumped into Penny at a writers’ seminar at the local college. Penny, who had actually gone to the same high school as Joanna though they hadn’t been friends at the time, was a professor of English, and now they got together twice a week to discuss writing. Though these days it was more of an excuse to chat with a friend, writing being the least of the conversation.

Penny was just as bubbly as Joanna remembered, and she couldn’t imagine a better teacher. Penny even wanted Joanna to come in and give a lecture on the trials and tribulations of journalism, of which she had great firsthand knowledge. Today they’re meeting at Walterz, a pastry shop slightly closer to campus than the Witches’ Brew. Joanna reminds herself to pick up cupcakes for Kat and the kids. Walterz has the best cupcakes, all made at the bakery itself, with wide frosting-covered tops in flavors like lemon drop, lavender, orange creamcicle, salted caramel, and double devil chocolate. 

Penny is already ensconced in one of the big, plush, royal purple armchairs that flank the small wood tables scattered about the shop. Walterz also provides coffee, but it’s not nearly as good as Roxie’s. Joanna slides over the latte as she sits down. Penny looks up from her notepad and smiles as she takes off her headphones.

“Hey, how’s…you look exhausted!”

Joanna nods, kicking her shoes off as she falls gracelessly into the adjacent chair. “Sleeping is for the weak of heart. Plus I’ve got ten more pages.”

“Cool, do I get to see?”

“Of course. I’ve been looking forward to this all week.”

“Yeah, well since I saw you two days ago I’ve only had to grade eight utterly hopeless essays.”

“That’s an improvement.”

“Yeah, well I hope so. Oh, and Mr. Mysterious and creepy” -- Penny subtly jerks her head at the counter where Daryl, the shop’s owner, is frosting a cupcake -- “gave me these.” Penny pulls a tarot deck out of her purse and drops it on the table. “I’m thinking of giving up teaching and going into business as a fortune teller. Wanna try?”

Penny wiggles her fingers with exaggeration.  Joanna laughs, downing the rest of her coffee and taking the cards to shuffle. Before she lays them out she remembers to ask,

“Hey Roxie’s having a Christmas dinner, you wanna come? It’ll be me and Kat and all her kids, and Mia’s home from college.”

Penny grins. “Are you kidding, that sounds great! Tell her I’ll be there, and I make a mean pumpkin pie.”

Joanna smiles back. “I’ll hold you to that, you know I love pumpkin pie.” She carefully starts placing the cards. Maybe they’ll tell her the end of her novel.

 

 


End file.
